Jaws understandably hit the floor when the Jaguar XJ220 was first unveiled at the 1988 British Motor Show.

Not just for its lithe and otherworldly streamlined shape, but for a spec sheet that promised no fewer than 12 cylinders, 6.2 litres, and four-wheel drive.

Enthusiasm inevitably cooled when the road car was finally revealed, having lost half its cylinders, almost half its capacity, and two driven wheels to the production process.

But despite rationalisation of the ambitious design, performance surpassed all expectations: the supercar could reach 100 km/h in less than four seconds, with a top speed of 343 km/h.

The XJ220 became—for a moment, at least—the fastest production car on earth.

Its creators—Jaguar and Tom Walkinshaw Racing—saw in the XJ220 the potential for competition success.

Off the back of a winning partnership that had produced no fewer than two outright victories at Le Mans, the XJ220 was duly prepared to take on Porsche Carrera RSRs and Venturi 500 LMs in the ...